Elevating Air Temperature May Enhance Future Epidemic Risk of the Plant Pathogen Phytophthora infestans

Sammanfattning

Knowledge of pathogen adaptation to global warming is important for predicting future disease epidemics and food production in agricultural ecosystems; however, the patterns and mechanisms of such adaptation in many plant pathogens are poorly understood. Here, population genetics combined with physiological assays and common garden experiments were used to analyze the genetics, physiology, and thermal preference of pathogen aggressiveness in an evolutionary context using 140 Phytophthora infestans genotypes under five temperature regimes. Pathogens originating from warmer regions were more thermophilic and had a broader thermal niche than those from cooler regions. Phenotypic plasticity contributed -10-fold more than heritability measured by genetic variance. Further, experimental temperatures altered the expression of genetic variation and the association of pathogen aggressiveness with the local temperature. Increasing experimental temperature enhanced the variation in aggressiveness. At low experimental temperatures, pathogens from warmer places produced less disease than those from cooler places; however, this pattern was reversed at higher experimental temperatures. These results suggest that geographic variation in the thermal preferences of pathogens should be included in modeling future disease epidemics in agricultural ecosystems in response to global warming, and greater attention should be paid to preventing the movement of pathogens from warmer to cooler places.

Nyckelord

natural selection; AUDPC; ecological sustainability; thermal adaptation; plant disease; pathogen evolution; counter-gradient variation

Publicerad i

Journal of Fungi
2022, Volym: 8, nummer: 8, artikelnummer: 808Utgivare: MDPI

SLU författare

• Zhan, Jiasui

  • Institutionen för skoglig mykologi och växtpatologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Associerade SLU-program

SLU Nätverk växtskydd


Globala målen

SDG2 Ingen hunger
SDG13 Bekämpa klimatförändringarna


UKÄ forskningsämne

Jordbruksvetenskap
Klimatforskning


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8080808

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/118945